I have a long standing dispute going on with Airtel regarding their billing issue. I had a 16 mbps @ Rs. 2,999 a month. I had some speed issues in April 2010 for which I was told by the customer service guys that some fiber optic cable has problem and the speed problem is all over north India. Finally, they replaced my modem with a "refurbished" modem on April 30 and I saw spike in usage. When I called in to report the problem on May 3rd or 4th, I was told that they can only file a complaint once the bill has been issued. When I received the bill, I was shocked to see Rs. 9,000+ bill. Meanwhile, I had taken a snapshot of "Airtel Netxpert" on May 12th which had been showing the balance of Rs. 7,390.53 as the "Unbilled amount".

My billing cycle was from 17th-16th. When I filed a complaint on May 20th regarding the same and waited for a resolution. Around May 24, I received a call from Airtel informing me that there was no discrepancy in the bill and I requested them to disconnect the line. But I started getting calls from Airtel around June 7th that my bill is pending, upon which I called customer care again on June 9 and I was told that my connection is schedule for termination and I will not be charged after May 25, even though connection was working till June 9. And finally when I received my May-June bill, I noticed they had charged me, on pro-rated basis, until June 6 for the total amount of Rs. 15,000+.

After long hours I spent with Airtel customer care on the phone, I started the communication through the email. And finally, I just asked them whether their netxpert is correct or their bill is correct. First I did not get a proper response and they kept telling me that there was no misuse on my bill. But after a while I did get a response and I am attaching a print out of their response (that their bill is wrong and airtel netxpert is correct), my bill (last two pages) and the snapshot.

Not just that. I have had lot of Airtel agents call me to set up a new connection and every single one of them admitted that Airtel does indeed has problem with their billing system.

This is how Airtel has been cheating me and possibly every other customer out there who are on "limited" or "conditional" download plans.

Is there anyone out there who could help me with this?

Thanks,
Manish